This invention relates generally to systems for indicating hard or panic braking of a vehicle, such as an automobile, and, particularly, to inertial systems for controlling the vehicle's brake lights.
Automobile accidents are a leading cause of death and personal injury in the United States as well as in other countries. In particular, rear end collisions often result in permanent neck, back and head injuries. However, a number of accidents, particularly rear end collisions, may be prevented by giving the driver of a trailing automobile adequate warning that the leading automobile is rapidly decelerating, as opposed to merely slowing down.
While several systems exist for indicating hard braking of a vehicle, these systems perform inadequately in a number of respects. For example, systems for flashing an automobile's brake lights in response to hard braking of the automobile often include manual reset switches. The automobile's operator must manually reset the system to either stop the lights from flashing or to enable the system for the next hard braking instance. For this reason, such systems increase the operator's workload and further present a potential hazard if the operator fails to reset the system.
Switching in these flashing systems often causes early system failure which may also render the automobile's brake lights inoperable for indicating normal braking. For example, such systems typically, and unnecessarily, switch each time the brake pedal is depressed. Further, the use of mechanical switching arrangements having a number of moving parts can cause premature system failure.
Other systems include complicated brake light flashing circuits which flash an automobile's brake lights for a predetermined period of time. In addition to inadequately indicating panic braking instances, these systems disadvantageously require modifications to the automobile, thus complicating their installation.
Additionally, rapidly slowing or stopping a vehicle on a hill may be more or less dangerous than when the vehicle is on level ground depending on the slope. For example, the operator of a trailing vehicle traveling downhill typically needs earlier warning of panic braking in order to prevent a rear end collision. However, conventional systems fail to accommodate for the vehicle's angle with respect to level ground.